Saudi authorities said on Monday they extended the suspension of operations at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport following deadly Houthi strikes. The airport has been shut since Saturday’s attack killed 13 people. Many airlines got forced to cancel flights as officials work to ensure the safety of airport facilities.
Oct 12 (Reuters) - Saudi authorities said on Monday they were extending the suspension of operations at the international airport in the capital, Riyadh, after deadly weekend attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis.
Operations at King Khalid International Airport, Saudi Arabia's second-busiest airport after Jeddah, were suspended to "allow for the completion of procedures to ensure the safety and operational readiness of the airport's facilities", the Saudi civil aviation authority said in a statement.
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The airport has been shut since an attack on Saturday that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade. On Sunday, another attack killed one person and injured nearly a dozen others.
The attacks marked one of the most significant disruptions to Saudi aviation in years, adding to pressures on an industry already grappling with conflict across the Middle East.
The airport cancelled 99.7% of all scheduled flights on Sunday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. An air traffic tracker from Flightradar24 showed no planes over the city.
The disruption has forced airlines across Europe and Asia to suspend services, while the Federal Aviation Administration advised US carriers on Sunday to exercise caution when flying to or over Saudi Arabia.
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways was among the airlines that further extended Saudi flight cancellations, affecting around 20 flights to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam on Monday and Tuesday.
The escalation with the Houthis has raised concerns over the broader economic impact. Saudi Arabia's real GDP is projected to contract by 3.6% this year, reflecting a combination of factors including lower oil activity.
The attacks have put events scheduled in Riyadh this month under pressure, including the kingdom's flagship investment conference and the WPC Energy Congress, where several top oil executives were dropped from the programme.
Updates throughout with extension of airport closure, details, background, graphic and map
Reporting by Joanna Plucinska in London, Gianluca Lo Nostro in Gdansk, Federico Maccioni in Dubai and Menna Alaa El Din in Cairo; Editing by Matt Scuffham, Aidan Lewis
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Gianluca's stories appear regularly on the business and technology section, with a particular focus on France and its efforts to compete with global rivals. He has reported extensively on connectivity and the geopolitics behind it in the war in Ukraine. A background in international studies, Gianluca started his journalism career in Milan and has covered French general and political news with Reuters in Paris.